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Zednik, Vokoun lift Panthers past Rangers in shootout

Feb 14, 2009 - 5:20 AM SUNRISE, Florida (Ticker) -- Richard Zednik has had quite a heroic week.

Zednik scored the lone goal of the shootout and Tomas Vokoun made 34 saves as the Florida Panthers posted their third consecutive victory, a 2-1 triumph over the New York Rangers on Friday.

After three scoreless rounds of the bonus format, Zednik beat All-Star goaltender Henrik Lundqvist between the pads with a snap shot to give the Panthers the edge.

"I hadn't given (Zednik) the opportunity (to be in a shootout), but he's had the hot hand for us lately," Florida coach Peter DeBoer said. "He came in on (Lundqvist) and really buried it."

"It just feels good to be out on the ice right now," Zednik said. "The bottom line is, I have the confidence to go out there and help the team win."

Rookie Michael Frolik scored in regulation for the Panthers, who have gone 12-3-3 thus far in 2009.

Lundqvist stopped 42 shots and Fredrik Sjostrom tallied for New York, which has lost six of its last seven contests (1-4-2).

"It's really frustrating. In a shootout, you're relying on the goalie," Lundqvist said. "We worked really hard tonight and played pretty good."

After scoring the tying goal late in the third period and the winner in overtime in a 5-4 triumph over Toronto on Tuesday, Zednik gave Florida the victory in this one with his first shootout goal of the season. The 33-year-old Slovakian surprised Lundqvist with a quick shot from the slot.

"I wasn't really thinking about the shot I was going to take," said Zednik, who had scored four goals over the previous four games. "I saw his legs open a little and decided to get off a quick shot. He got a piece of it, but I managed to get it past him."

Vokoun then stopped Nikolai Zherdev's backhand attempt to secure the win for the Panthers, who matched their season high for shots in a game. Vokoun also denied Markus Naslund and Ryan Callahan in the bonus format, while Nigel Dawes hit the goalpost on his opportunity.

"I thought that this was one of our best games of the year," Vokoun said. "Coming back from that big win last night (at Carolina), we didn't want to have a letdown and managed to get two more big points."

"(Vokoun) was awesome," Panthers defenseman Keith Ballard said. "He kept us in it and gave us a chance to win."

Sjostrom opened the scoring with 2:46 left in the first period, banging a rebound past Vokoun after Blair Betts deked a defender and fired an off-angle shot on net.

"We needed to generate more (scoring chances), naturally. It's just something that we'll continue to work on," New York coach Tom Renney said. "We were pushing the puck up the walls and making our forechecks, but in the end, we just didn't get enough chances."

The Panthers evened the contest at 1-1 just 2:37 into the second session as Frolik netted his 13th goal of the season.

Cory Stillman intercepted Rangers defenseman Michal Rozsival's pass behind the net and dished the puck to Frolik, who unleashed a turnaround wrist shot that sailed between the pads of Lundqvist.

Lundqvist helped New York escape with a point, robbing Nathan Horton midway through the third period. With Florida on a power play, Horton collected a rebound with an open net in front of him, but Lundqvist made a sprawling save to keep the game tied.

"(Vokoun) was our best player and Lundqvist was their best player," DeBoer said. "Both goalies made some game-saving plays out there tonight."